Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, and perhaps the stupidest man in England, has come out against the proposal:

Boris Johnson threw down the gauntlet to shadow chancellor George Osborne today, urging him to rule out extending the supertax on bonuses.

The Mayor is seeking reassurances that Gordon Brown’s tax would not be imposed by a Tory government. The showdown comes after Mr Johnson claimed that up to 9,000 bankers could leave London to escape paying.

Mr Osborne has said he does not oppose the tax, and the Conservatives have not ruled out imposing it again if they win the general election.

If the Tories come out against the tax, they may very well snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

On a more utilitarian note, when a rich banker leaves for Switzerland (only Switzerland does not want them either) it means that that 2500 square foot penthouse flat in London becomes 4, or 5 more modest flats, increasing the supplies of housing, and drives down rents, making London a better place for the Londoners.

The rich bankers, and the expat tax dodgers who live in London in very large numbers, don’t make London better, they make it worse: They push out the middle class, and productive industry.